Google Drive Basics - What Do The Icons Mean?

As you start to use Google Drive, you will encounter icons that indicate different file types.  Here is a quick guide to what the icons mean.

Google Drive Icons


Google Apps for Education allows you to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and forms from your Google Drive.  These file types are created when you click on the Create button in Google Drive (see right).

The icons associated with these file types can be found below.

Icons for Other File Types

Google Apps for Education also allows you to upload files to your Google Drive.  These files may be from Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat or other external applications.  

The icons that Google uses for these file types are as follows: 

Where will I see these icons?

You will see these icons next to your file name in your Google Drive (see below).  By knowing what the icons mean, you can quickly determine what kind of file type you have in your Google Drive.  

You can learn more about Google Drive Basics at Georgia Southern University's web site.